Director, Professor
Department of Physics
University of Connecticut
Nora Berrah is Professor and Head of the Physics department at the University of Connecticut since 2014. Professor Berrah probes interacting multi electrons systems on ultrafast time scales using femtosecond table-top lasers and free electron lasers. The aim of her research is to understand the interaction of photons with matter, understand photo-induced physical processes and ultimately control them.
Distinguished faculty scholar from Western Michigan University, where she previously held a position of physics professor, and was recognized several times for her excellent scientific work via distinction awards. She is a fellow of the APS since 1999 and received the Davisson-Germer Prize (APS) in 2014 “For pioneering experiments on the interaction of atoms, molecules, negative ions and clusters with ionizing vacuum ultraviolet and soft x-ray photons.”
Professor Berrah has been a diversity advocate for more than 22 years. With a goal of increasing and retaining the number of women in physics, she has largely contributed to the promotion of women in science through outreach and mentoring. She led a national workshop in the US to strengthen the physics enterprise in physics departments and national laboratories.